Although Wanda Jackson was a star in Germany with songs she'd learned phonetically and didn't understand, she was nearly invisible at home, singing songs she understood all too well. Most of her showdates were in Reno and Vegas lounges, together with some seasonal fair dates. Once or twice a year, she'd go to Nashville to meet her A&R man, Ken Nelson. She had been under contract to Capitol since 1956, but she'd placed just two records in the Country Top 10 and three in the pop Top 40. Pressure from Capitol's European parent might have been the only reason she was still on the label. Tears Will Be The Chaser For Your Wine was recorded in April 1966, and released at year's end. It featured both steel guitar and Dobro.

Two steel guitarists, Lloyd Green and Weldon Myrick, were listed on the session, so Myrick probably played the Dobro. Tears Will Be the Chaser was a song Wanda had found back home in Oklahoma. The cowriter, Dale Davis (aka Dale Siegenthaler), had kicked around the music scene since the late 1950s, briefly owning and recording for Stardale Records, a label that once had rockabilly freaks digging deep in their pockets. (Stardale was one of those labels that assigned different catalog numbers to the A & B sides of its records, just to ensure no one ordered them). Later, Davis wrote Marvin Rainwater's late-blooming Scandinavian hit, Henryetta Oklahoma. No one could handle these heartbreak songs better than Wanda. Her wounded small-town-girl innocence, offset by an ever-so-slightly sluttish voice, was a beguiling combo that should have made her a bigger star. As she saw Tammy Wynette rising fast, Wanda could have been excused for thinking it should have been her.